Moving across country with our chickens, any advice?

[SparklingSiegel]

We are moving across country soon (from Texas to Washington) and have 18 chickens coming with us. We also have 2 large dogs and 4 cats coming!
Currently the plan is to remove all the seats from our mini van, have cats and chickens in separate crates and the dogs (both travel well and are low activity level) will stick themselves wherever they fit. My husband will be driving and me and the kids will be flying.
I was wondering though, if anyone had experience with making a long distance move with their chickens in a trailer?
I can't decide if that would be more or less stressful for them, or my husband. He says either way is fine but I'm imagining three days with the cats and chickens in a small space...I feel nutty just thinking about it!
So, has anyone done this? Known someone who has? How did it go?

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Just make sure all the birds have room and don't overheat. Chickens tend to do fine on car rides in my experience. Make sure they drink every now and then, but I wouldn't feed them. It'll get too messy and stinky.

In tact, you may want to starve them a day before going. They'll do fine on an empty crop and no stinky poops to worry about.

 

[Stiggy]

on the trip you could cut out the side of a milk bottle so they can get their heads in the use the handle to help tie it is and put in mushy bread, this gives them something to eat and liquids, but either way they will need stops with water. some people feed only grain the 2 days before moving/ showing so that the poo is hard and not runny. having them in the trailer isn't a good idea unless it is temp controlled and has enough ventilation . personally I would keep them in the car no matter how stinky because at least then you can have the heat/ cold controlled

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Oh I just saw it was in a trailer.

Yeah they would overheat in the trailer, unless it's an open top trailer. If it's an open top trailer that might work, but an enclosed trailer will overheat.

 

[SparklingSiegel]

Thanks y'all!
It would be a small livestock trailer (vented sides and plenty of room) if we went that route.

 

[aart]

WOW 3 days of travel?! I don't think you can not feed them for 3 days. Better get plenty of pine shavings!!


Try reading here, others have done it.

Best of Luck....let us know what you decide and how it works.

 

[SparklingSiegel]

I am definitely more concerned about keeping the chickens stress free/minimally stressed than I am about a mess. I'll be feeding them as normal with extra treats and toys so they don't pick at each other.
I may end up going the livestock trailer route so they can have a bit of extra room.
I'll post back when we're on our way!

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Ooh ok, if you have a live stock trailer the chickens wouldn't be dog kennels... Duh... Lol.

I'd just check on them frequently, make sure they aren't getting too hot. That's my biggest concern.

 

[SparklingSiegel]

So, after loads of planning we ended up not bringing our chickens at all! The sale of our house got delayed and our concerns about keeping the chickens cool turned into concerns about keeping them warm. Ultimately we sold quite a few and left our favorites with my mother. It turned out to be the right choice, my husband ended up having to drive through 70mph wind gusts with 20 below 0 wind chill and I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have worked for our girls!
So now we are starting a new flock, sad but exciting!

 

[aart]

So, after loads of planning we ended up not bringing our chickens at all! The sale of our house got delayed and our concerns about keeping the chickens cool turned into concerns about keeping them warm. Ultimately we sold quite a few and left our favorites with my mother. It turned out to be the right choice, my husband ended up having to drive through 70mph wind gusts with 20 below 0 wind chill and I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have worked for our girls!
So now we are starting a new flock, sad but exciting!

Thanks for following up.....sad but good decision.